Creating disc menus (2024)

You can create a menu‑based DVD or Blu-ray Disc by using one of the predesigned menu templates included with Premiere Elements. All templates include a Main Menu 1 button and a Scenes Menu 1 button. The menu buttons are automatically linked with menu and scene markers in the Expert view timeline. The main menu contains a minimum of two buttons: one to play the movie, the other to display a scenes menu. Some templates contain additional buttons in the main menu that jump to other movies you’ve marked in the Timeline. The scenes menus generally contain buttons with a label and a thumbnail from the scene.

A menu can include sound and motion. Some templates contain drop zones, where you can drag and drop a still image or video to personalize the menu background. If you drop a video or image on a template that does not contain a drop zone, the dropped video or still image replaces the entire menu background. A video can serve as a moving backdrop to a menu or provide all the visual elements of the menu, except for the button highlighting. The video can include, for example, a moving background, scrolling credits, and even the button images. How long the video background or audio plays depends on the duration of the menu. The duration of a single loop of background audio and video must be 30 seconds or less.

You can personalize a template for your project by changing fonts, colors, backgrounds, and layout. Template changes apply only to the current project; you cannot save template changes in Premiere Elements.

When you choose a disc menu template,don’t be concerned if it doesn’t have enough menu buttons to matcheach marker in the movie. Premiere Elements createsadditional menus and buttons as needed.

When you select atemplate, the button text on the menus changes to the names you’vegiven the menu and scene markers. You can name the markers and changethe title of the menu after you select the template. If you don’tprovide marker names, the buttons remain as named in the template.

Youcan add menu and scene markers before you select a template; oryou can add, move, or delete markers after choosing a template.The disc menus are adjusted dynamically to match the markers; adding,or deleting buttons as necessary.

1. Click Tools on the Action bar and choose MovieMenu in the Tools panel.

2. Select a template with a theme matching that of yourproject. If you have used main menu markers, choose a template withat least three buttons on the main menu. (The first button is labeledPlay Movie and the second, Scenes. Additional buttons link to scenemarkers in the Expert view timeline.)

3. If you want to Adobe Premiere Elements to automaticallyadd menu markers for you, select Add Menu Markers AutomaticallyFor Me Settings. Click Settings and select one of the followingoptions:

   At Each Scene

   Places a scene marker at each edit point (cut) betweenclips on the Video 1 track.

   Every _ Minutes

   Places scene markers at the interval you specify. (Thisoption is available only when the movie contains several minutesof footage.)

   Total Markers

   Spaces your markers evenly across the entire range of clips in the Timeline.

   Note: If you choose not to add markers automatically at this time, you can add them later. Premiere Elements updates menus dynamically, adding main menu marker buttons, or scenes menus and buttons if you add markers.

4. ClickContinue. If necessary, modify the menuproperties in the Adjust panel.

   The buttons are linked to the markers in the Expert viewtimeline and the marker names are inserted for the button text.

5. Click the thumbnail of the menu on the bottom of theDisc Layout panel to view a menu. If necessary, scroll to the thumbnailyou want to view, or resize the panel to display thumbnails side-by-side.

1. Right-click/Ctrl-click a Menu template.

   See Also

   which is the last MacBook pro that will a…How to Burn a CD in macOS Monterey / Big SurHow to Copy DVDs on Mac Computer with 1:1 Quality? Top 4 WaysTop 6 Best DVD Burning Software for Mac 2024 (Sonoma Incl.)

2. Click Download Now to download selected template. Click DownloadAll to download all Menu templates.

3. Click the Download in background button to download the contentsin background as you continue to work in Adobe Premiere Elements.

   Note:

   TheBlue bar on top right corner on the content indicates the contentis not downloaded. Internet access is required to download contents.

You can personalize your menu background withvideo clips, video clips with audio, an audio clip, still images,or still images with audio.

Some menus have special dropzones where you can place videos or still images. Templates withdrop zones contain a black drop area and an “Add Your Media Here” message.You can place videos and still images even if the menu does nothave a drop zone. In this scenario, the media replaces the entirebackground. Some menus without drop zones have additional art thatremains in front of your video.

1. In the Disc Menu panel, click the thumbnail ofthe menu you want to change.

2. In the Menu panel, click Browse, and then locate andselect a clip on your hard drive.

   Note:

   When both video and audio are set and you replaceone of the clips, the other clip remains set, unless you selectbackground video that also contains audio. In that case, the backgroundaudio overrides the existing audio.

3. Specify settings in Properties view (Menu Backgroundpanel) of the Tasks panel:

   Reset

   Sets the background to the original template background.

   In Point

   Sets the In point of the video or audio clip. Drag thetimecode to the desired frame.

   Play

   Plays media in the thumbnail. The icon changes from thePlay button to the Pause button. Click the Pause button to stopthe playback and set the In point of the background.

   Use Still Frame

   Sets the current frame in the video clip as a still background image.Drag the timecode to set the frame.

   Apply Default Transition Before Loop

   Adds the transition you’ve set as the default each timethe video starts from the beginning.

   Duration

   Sets the duration of background video or audio from theIn points.

   Apply To All Menus

   Applies the background to all disc menus.

1. At the bottom of the Disc Layout panel,click the thumbnail of the menu you want to change.

2. Do anyof the following:

   • To resize a menu item, select it in the Disc Layout panel. A rectangle (called a bounding box) with eight selection points appears around the item. Drag any selection point to resize the item. Alternatively, in Roman language versions, you can use the –(minus) or = (equal) keys on your keyboard to resize the item proportionately in all directions. The equal key enlarges the item.

   

   • To move a menu item, select the item and drag it. Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the item in any direction.
     

   

1. At the bottom of the Disc Layout panel, clickthe thumbnail of the menu you want to change.

2. To edit text or buttons not connected to markers, double‑clickthe menu title or button and edit the text in the Change Text dialogbox. To use multiple lines, press Ctrl+Enter for each new line.ClickOK.

3. To edit buttons connected to markers, double‑click thetext or button, do any of the following in the Menu Marker dialogbox, and then clickOK:

   • To rename the marker (and the button inthe menu), type a new name and clickOK. To use multiplelines, press Ctrl+Enter for each new line. Keep the name short sothat it fits in the menu and doesn’t overlap another button.

   • To select the image you want displayed in the buttonthumbnail in the menu, drag the Thumbnail Offset timecode, and clickOK.(This thumbnail is for the menu display only. If you select theMotion Menu Button option, the video linked to the button startsat the marker location.)

   • To delete a button, click Delete. The marker isdeleted from the Expert view timeline and the button from the menu.Alternatively, you can right-click/ctrl-click the button’s markerin the Timeline, and choose Clear Menu Marker.

1. At the bottom of the Disc Layout panel, clickthe thumbnail of the menu you want to change.

2. Select a menu title or button text.

3. Do any of the following in the Properties panel:

   • Choose a font from the Change Text Fontmenu. (You may have to select the triangle next to Text to see thetext attribute options.)

   • Choose a text style from the Change Font Style menu,or click the Bold, Italic, or Underline icons. You can click morethan one icon.

   • Choose a text size from the Change Text Size menu.

   • Click the Change Text Color icon next to the ChangeText Size menu and choose a color from the Adobe Color Picker.

4. To apply the text settings to similar text items in allmenus, click Apply To All Scene Buttons, Apply To All Text Buttons,or Apply To All Marker Buttons.

1. At the bottom of the Disc Layout panel, clickthe thumbnail of the menu you want to change.

2. Select a button in the Disc Layout panel.

3. InProperties view of the Tasks panel, select Motion Menu Button.

4. Set the In point where you want the clip to start playingwhen the menu is displayed. You can either use the Play/Stop buttonto view the clip in the thumbnail, or edit the In Point timecodefield.

5. To set the duration for the clip to play, click the backgroundof the menu, and then in the Properties view under Motion Menu Button,edit the Duration timecode field.

   Note:

   The duration you set for a motion menu buttonapplies to all motion menu buttons on the disc.

1. Click the Menu Theme button in Movie menu panel.

2. Select a menu template and click Continue. Premiere Elements displays the new menus in theDisc Layout panel.

Note:

Although an auto‑play disc does not contain menus that link to the marker, existing menu and scene markers in the project can be useful. The Next and Previous buttons on a DVD or Blu-ray player’s remote control skip ahead or back to main menu markers and scene markers. Stop markers are ignored.

1. In the Adjust panel, click Auto-Play.

   The menus are removed from the Adjust panel and themarkers are as chapter points in an auto-play disc.

More like this

• Preview Disc panel overview
• Disc burning guidelines and compatibility
• Add menu, scene, or stop markers manually
• Specify a default transition
• Add menu, scene, or stop markers manually
• Free online menu maker